Insert Dialogs Into Dialogs

You can insert dialogs into other dialogs. For example, you could create a dialog that collects basic client information and then, if the client is married, add that dialog to the client dialog to collect spouse information. Dialogs inserted into other dialogs are called child dialogs.

During an interview, a child dialog appears on its parent dialog as a button followed by the name or title of the dialog. When the user clicks the button, the inserted dialog appears and the interview outline expands to show the inserted dialog.

If you are inserting multiple child dialogs in a parent dialog and you specify a Selection grouping style, HotDocs places a check box or option button next to each inserted dialog. When this check box or option button is selected, HotDocs places the child dialog in the interview outline so that its contents can be answered. Otherwise, HotDocs will treat the child dialog as if it doesn't exist—even if there are required variables in it. In the interview, the user can either select the check box or option button and then click the child dialog icon, or the user can click the child dialog icon, which automatically selects the check box or option and then displays the child dialog.

You can insert as many levels of regular dialogs as you want. If you are nesting repeated dialogs, however, you can nest up to 3 levels of repeated child dialogs. See Create a List Within a List for details.

To insert one dialog in another

  1. Create the parent dialog as well as the child dialog. (See Gather Questions into a Custom Dialog.)
  2. Once both dialogs are created, edit the parent dialog. (See Edit a Custom Dialog.)
  3. At the Properties tab, click the Components drop-down button and select Dialogs from the list. HotDocs limits the contents of the list to just dialogs.
  4. Drag the dialog you want to insert to the Contents list.
  5. Optionally, click the Options tab and select a grouping option from the Selection grouping drop-down list. (See Group Child Dialogs in a Parent Dialog.)

By default, child dialogs appear on parent dialogs as links with the child dialog's name as the prompt. If you want to provide more instructive text for accessing and then answering questions in the child dialog, enter a prompt in the Prompt to use when displayed as child dialog field. (The prompt you specify here will be used in the dialog only—the dialog's name or title will still be used in the interview outline and in the dialog itself.)